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Special Rules
While each nationality has its own special way of doing things, there are certain things common across all the nations. These special rules reflect common features of various equipment, tactics, and doctrine. V3 refers to rules from the Third Edition of the game, V4 - to the Fourth Edition. Otherwise, the rules apply to both editions. Equipment Soldiers carry and tanks are fitted with various items of equipment. These special rules tell you how these affect the game. Amphibious Many light tanks can swim, slowly, if needed, allowing them to cross rivers without the need for a bridge. Amphibious Teams treat Impassable Water as Difficult Terrain. Assault # Small weapon teams and those carrying heavy weapons are not as deadly in assault combat as specialist rifle teams. Teams with the Assault # special rule use the number # for To Hit rolls in Assaults rather than the value shown on the card. Bulldozer Bulldozers are useful for filling in craters and anti-tank ditches, or burying anti-tank obstacles blocking the armour’s advance. Bulldozers are useful for filling in craters and anti-tank ditches, or burying anti-tank obstacles blocking the armour’s advance. Any Tank Team fitted with a Bulldozer blade or a Bulldozer can assault a Bunker in the same way as an Infantry Team. If the Bunker is a Turret, it is automatically Destroyed if hit. Bulldozers can create a gap in Difficult Going (such as a Bocage Hedgerow) in the same way as they gap Obstacles. In one turn they create a 2”/5cm wide gap in a Linear Obstacle or a gap 2”/5cm wide by 4”/10cm long in Area Terrain that no longer requires a Cross test. Gun Anti-tank guns and field guns need a gun tractor to move quickly. Guns cannot be carried as Passengers in Transports. They must be towed by a Tractor and cannot Charge into Contact with enemy Teams, but can fight back if charged by the enemy. Gun Shield Anti-tank guns usually have a gun shield to protect the crew from enemy tanks’ machine-guns. A Gun Team with a Gun Shield is in Bulletproof Cover when shot at from in front of the Team’s base. A Gun Shield does not offer any protection against Bombardments or if the Team moved at Dash speed. Heavy Weapon Riflemen are backed by infantry heavy weapons like heavy machine-guns and mortars. Although they are heavy by the standards of a rifleman, they are still small and light enough for the crews to carry them on their backs, but not really suited for hand-to-hand combat. A Heavy Weapon Team cannot Charge into Contact, but might be an Assaulting Team if in Contact with an enemy Team. Improvised Tank Assault # Some of the anti-tank grenades issued in World War Two were almost as dangerous to the troops using them as to the tanks they attacked. A good example of this is the British ‘Grenade, Hand, No. 74’, commonly known as the ''‘Sticky Bomb’. If a Team with the Improvised Tank Assault attribute rolls a 1 when rolling to hit in Assault combat, the team is Destroyed. The # number shows the Anti-tank rating against a Tank’s Top Armour in Assaults. A Team armed with Improvised Tank Assault weapons may, before rolling to hit, choose not to use them. In this case, the team reverts to its normal Tank Assault rating of 2. Large Gun ''Some guns are nearly as big as a tank. They are difficult to hide and require a powerful gun tractor to move them more than a short distance. Large Guns cannot be placed in buildings and cannot be placed from Ambush within 16”/40cm of enemy Teams. Man-packed Gun Man-packed guns are weapons light enough to keep pace with the infantry. Man-packed Guns are not Gun Teams but are Infantry Teams they use the Heavy Weapon special rule. Mine Clearing Devices (Rollers and Flails) Mine rollers and flails clear minefields by setting off the mines by striking them with flailing chains or rolling over them with heavy steel drums. Mine ploughs, rollers, and flails allow tanks to clear minefields. Overworked Some tanks combine the roles of commander and loader to fit a big gun in a small turret, making it difficult to hit on the move. Overworked weapons add +1 to the score needed To Hit when moving. Passengers # Personnel carriers have space to carry soldiers inside. A Transport Team can carry Infantry Teams as Passengers. The # indicates how many Teams can be carried. Portee (V3) Some guns were carried ‘en portée’ on the load bed of a truck rather than towed to allow the gun to fire on the move. Before the start of the game, you may swap Portee Tank Team for the ground-mounted Gun Team version of the same weapon (see appropriate Arsenal). Protected Ammo Tanks with protected ammunition storage have their vulnerable rounds stored behind armoured bins or flame retardant liquid. Tank Teams with Protected Ammo reduces the score required to Remount by -1. Self-Propelled (SP) Gun Turretless self-propelled guns find it hard to fight at close quarters, preferring to break off and shoot. SP Guns have a worse Counterattack rating and a worse Assault rating. If they are open-topped, they have significantly worse Counterattack rating. Tractor Tractors move towed guns around the battlefield. A Tractor Team can tow a single Gun Team as a Passenger. The gun model is placed behind the Tractor to show that it is being towed. In a Unit diagram, the Tractor is usually indicated by being placed under or next to the Gun Team silhouette in the same gun section. Unarmoured While mounting a gun on a truck or half-track gives it mobility, it’s still not a tank and can’t assault. An Unarmoured Tank team cannot Charge into Contact and must Break Off if assaulted. Weapons Some weapons have features or technology that make them more effective. These special rules reflect this. Anti-Aircraft (V3)/ Dedicated AA (V4) Units tasked with air defence constantly scan the skies. They react quickly and lethally whenever enemy aircraft appear. Anti-aircraft weapons can Shoot at Aircraft using their stationary ROF. Awkward Layout (V3) Some tanks have awkward internal layouts making it impossible to fire the gun on the move. A number of truck- mounted guns also suffer from having to lower stabiliser jacks before being able to fire. Tank Team with Awkward Layout cannot shoot on the Move. Bombs and Rockets Aircraft bombs contain far more explosive than artillery shells, making them many times more effective. Bombs and Rockets do not need to re-roll successful rolls To Hit for only having 1 or 2 weapons firing. Only Teams from the Bombarding Unit can Spot for it. Breakthrough Gun (V3)/Brutal (V4) Large-calibre guns pack enough explosive to destroy any unprotected target outright. Infantry, Gun, and Unarmoured Tank Teams (including when Passengers) re-roll successful Saves against Breakthrough Gun Weapons. Bunker-Buster Some Large-calibre guns are even more powerful and are often used against well-protected fortifications. Bunker Buster weapons are Breakthrough/Brutal Guns and have a Moving ROF of 0. When a Bunker Buster weapon Hits a team in a Building in Shooting, is also Hits every other Infantry, Gun, and Unarmoured Tank Team in the Building. If the building is divided into multiple rooms is only hits teams in the same room as the target Team. Flying Tank Heavily-armoured ground-attack aircraft like the Soviet Il-2 ‘Shturmovik’ and the German Hs-129 are known as ‘Flying Tanks’ because of their comparative invulnerability to anti-aircraft fire. Only large-calibre anti-aircraft guns have much chance of bringing down a flying tank. Add +1 to the score needed for Firepower Tests against Aircraft rated as Flying Tanks in their Arsenal entry. This makes it impossible for a weapon with Firepower 6 to shoot down a Flying Tank. Forward Firing (V4)/Hull-Mounted and Gun Team Weapons Hull-mounted weapons and most towed guns cannot traverse to track targets to the side of the weapon. Hull Mounted and Gun Team Weapon can only target Teams fully in front of the shooting Team, and can only fire an Artillery Bombardment if the Aiming Point is fully in front of the shooting Team. Hits Top Armour Some weapons either arrive at a step trajectory or take advantage of armour’s weaknesses. Weapons with Hits Top Armour use their Anti-tank rating against a target Teams Top Armour rating. HMG Carrier When they board their HMG carrier, the machine-gunners mount their machine-gun on their carrier so they can fire the gun while mounted. An HMG Team that started the turn as a Passenger in an HMG Carrier may fire the carrier’s hull-mounted vehicle machine-gun as an HMG team at their full ROF of 6 and a range of 24”/60cm as long as the vehicle does not move. However, when moving, the weapon is reduced to the usual ROF 3 and 16”/40cm range of a vehicle hull-MG. While firing the machine-gun as an HMG team, it counts as the vehicle’s Main Gun. The HMG team that fires cannot Dismount in the same turn, except to escape the destruction of their vehicle. Improvised Armour Often tank crews would add improvised armour to their vehicle. This could be made of sandbags, tan tracks, or whatever they could find and add it to the outside of their vehicle. A Tank Team with Improvised Armour always makes an Armour Save on a roll of 6 against weapons with a Firepower of 5+ or 6. Minimum Range 8"/20 cm Indirect firing weapons such as medium mortars lob their round in a high trajectory even when not firing bombardments, so cannot fire at targets that are close to them. Weapons with a Minimum Range 8”/20cm cannot target Teams closer than 8”/20cm from them when Shooting, hence these weapons cannot conduct Defensive Fire in Assaults. Multiple Weapons Tanks like the US M3 Lee or Soviet T-35 have a hull-mounted gun and a secondary turret or turrets. While these can be fired at the same time, the tank’s commander can only assist the gunner of the main gun to find targets, leaving the other weapon’s gunners to their own devices. When shooting multiple weapons (other than MGs), you may choose which weapon is the Main Weapon. A Tank may fire its additional weapons (other than MGs) at ROF 1 at the same time as its Main Weapon. If they do this, the additional weapons suffer +1 penalty to hit. Each weapon may fire at a different target. No HE Some specialist anti-tank weapons do not HE (High Explosive) ammunition making them much less effective against infantry and other soft targets. A weapon with No HE targeting an Infantry or Gun Team, adds +1 to the score needed to hit. One-man Turret Some tanks and armoured cars have tiny one-man turrets, leaving one man the job of commander, gunner, and loader. A One-man Turret main weapon adds +1 to the score needed To Hit when moving. Overhead Fire Light mortars sit back, firing over the heads of the advancing troops to knock out enemy machine-gun nests. Grenade Launchers and Light Mortars can fire over friendly teams. Overloaded Super-heavy tanks and heavily-laden assault guns often overload their engines and suspensions, making them very poor at crossing obstacles. Overloaded Tank Teams increase their Cross number by +1. Passenger-fired Weapons Some transport vehicles come equipped with an onboard machine-gun but are only crewed by the driver, meaning the weapon can only be fired when passengers are mounted. A Team with a Passenger-fired weapon must have a Passenger mounted to be able to shoot the weapon. Recoilless Recoilless weapons vent propellant gases to the rear to offset the recoil creating a large cloud of dust and debris behind the gun. Recoilless weapons never count as Concealed if they fired in their last Shooting Step. ROF 1 Weapons Sub-machine guns and assault rifles are very effective on the move, but lose their effectiveness when pinned down. ROF 1 weapons add +1 to the score needed To Hit when moving. Self-defence AA (V4)/AAMGs, Self-defence Anti-Aircraft, and Heavy Anti-Aircraft (V3) Weapons need high-angle mountings and rapid traverse to track fast-moving aircraft. AA MGs on Tank Teams, Self-defence Anti-aircraft, and Heavy Anti-aircraft weapons can Shoot at Aircraft using a ROF of 1. Smoke Blowing the enemy up is always a good option, but sometimes blinding them is better. Smoke weapons can Shoot Smoke ammunition (See Shooting). Smoke Bombardment Artillery-delivered smoke screens allow you to cover the flank of your advance or blind the enemy defences as you advance. Smoke Bombardment weapons can fire a Smoke Bombardment once per game (See Shooting). Turntable Some guns, mostly anti-aircraft guns, are mounted on turntables allowing then to turn in any direction. Weapons with a Turntable have a 360 degree (all around) firing arc. Turret-rear MG While not very practical for long-range shooting, a machine-gun mounted in the back of the turret is perfect for discouraging boarders in an assault. A Turret-rear MG may not shoot. In an Assault, if hit by an Infantry or Gun Team the Team that Hit must re-roll its successful Skill Test to hit. Bailed Out Tank Teams cannot use the Turret-rear MG rule. Unreliable Some vehicles are poorly designed, unsuitable for the conditions or just badly maintained. Unreliable Teams reduce their Cross-country and Road Dash by 2”/5cm. Wide Tracks Some excellent tank designs have successfully utilised wider tracks, allowing them to cross almost any terrain. Tank Teams with Wide Tracks reduce their Cross number by -1. Rules no longer used There are a few rules to be found in the older Intelligence Briefings’ Arsenals that no longer apply in the rules. These include Limited Vision, Mobile Rocket Launcher, and Slow Traverse. Category:Game mechanics